July 17

Matthew 13, 24-27

Something to read

He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?”
New Revised Standard Version

Something to think about

The earlier section of this chapter of Matthew taught us that growth is not something humans fully control, and this section teaches that we cannot eliminate the chance of things going wrong either.

Failure or unrealised potential in projects we undertake can really knock us for six. That is partly because we are addicted to success and control and partly because most of us have fooled ourselves into thinking that weakness, failure and ‘badness’ have real and lasting power.

In fact, it is almost inevitable that we will see weakness and failure appear like weeds in our lives and our work. It may be our fault, it may not. Either way, we will see that the Master is not fazed by it, even when his slaves come and challenge him about whether he is doing his job properly!

Something to do

In your conversations this week, try not to cover up any feelings of failure or weakness you may have, even if you think being honest might lead to somebody blaming you for something that has gone wrong.

Something to pray

Father, conflict, failure and suffering can be turned around by you into something really good. Jesus' life and death show that to us clearly.
We want to trust you but we are afraid of things going wrong and we are afraid of being hurt.
Please have mercy on us and help us.
Amen.

Today’s contributor is Anna Potts, a former Regional Co-ordinator for Christian Aid